Pawns and Tokens: The Great Boardgame Mystery
by Lauren Smurfikinz-Clark
Summary: Candy Land's most beloved realtor Mr. Monopoly was last seen in the vacant mansion of the late Mr. Boddy following a commission to renovate the infamous property as a place of business. Rumors point to possible suspects, conspiracies and even hauntings.
1. Chapter 1

**Pawns and Tokens: The Great Board-game Mystery**

Chapter 1

The Great Board-game Mystery began in the great Clue mansion of the late Mr. Body, long rumored to be haunted by his lingering spirit, still seeking his own murderer of many years past. It was now the subject of a new unsolved mystery when it became the site of the last known whereabouts of the respected real estate agent, Mr. Monopoly, it's first interested realtor in nearly 10 years.

Much like Mr. Boddy himself, Mr. Monopoly was a self-made millionaire and was both admired and envied by all who came to know him as the man responsible for dividing the six regions of Candy Land into streets and districts making the real estate and tourism business an economic powerhouse after the historic defeat of Lord Licorice and the reclaiming of the throne of King Kandy. Mr. Boddy's mansion had been one of the most desired properties built on Baltic Avenue in the midst of the great Gingerbread Orchard bringing with it many of his closest confidants, all immigrants of his native home of Clue Nation. It came as no surprise that they would become the primary suspects in his still unsolved murder, though rumors of an assassination plot by radical Candy Land nationalists still lingered in the mainstream.

After nearly a decade of remaining uninhabited due to fears of murder indictment and rumors of a wrathful ghost still residing in the vacant property, Mr. Monopoly and his real estate company Monopoly enterprises decided to renovate the Clue mansion and put it back on the market; a move that shook both the immigrants of Clue Nation and the native citizens of Candy Land. The plan was to hire the services of the budding construction company Chutes And Ladders Ltd to convert the property into a luxury bed and breakfast as well as museum based on it's intriguing historical significance as well as the unsolved mystery surrounding it. No one was more uncomfortable with this idea as the Mayor of Gingerbread Orchard, Sugar E. Plumpy who vowed to order the property uninhabitable if any attempt was made to alter it and persecute any such attempt as tampering with evidence, even though the case had long been closed and declared cold by the court-appointed Guess Who detective agency.

Despite this, Mayor Plumpy was quickly ruled out as a direct suspect in the later disappearance of Mr. Monopoly as the project had promised to bring in millions of tourists from around the world and with that a flood of business and income to it's residents. The signs pointed more toward a more emotionally-motivated suspect in the case; but who would want such a beloved icon and innovator as Uncle Pennybags gone? Unlike Mr. Boddy, Mr. Monopoly had no direct enemies or additional scandal surrounding his known legacy. This disappearance would lead to a re-evaluation of everything the people of Candy Land once thought of both Mr. Monopoly as well as themselves. Could there be a murderous traitor walking among them, a money-obsessed back-mail artist, or could they have been wrong about Mr. Monopoly the whole time? This would prove to be an even greater mystery than the still-unsolved murder of the last owner of the property. Perhaps the Clue mansion itself was hiding a much darker secret than the ones found in the murder investigation nearly 10 years earlier.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pawns and Tokens: The Great Board-game Mystery**

**Chapter 2**

"I just don't understand it." pondered King Kandy. "Why would Mr. Monopoly just disappear without notice with such a massive project in the works?" the King stroked his worried beard in confusion. "It just doesn't make sense." He let out a discontented sigh and called for his loyal page.

"Yes, your majesty?" He replied with a humble bow.

"Call forth my Royal Court, I wish to arrange for a private orientation." Ordered the mentally weary King. "Surely someone of power can make some sense of this. After all, he was one of them." King Kandy closed his eyes in a mini-meditation and sat back in his throne. "Ever since that mansion was built, there's been nothing but trouble for anyone that has tried to make use of it. First Candy Land's first foreign ambassador, and now it's finest innovator and realtor."

"We barely find out what happened to the first subject, now we're even deeper in mystery with another. At least we were able to declare a murder and find the remains of Mr. Boddy, which is more than we can do in this case." restated the page trying to seem important, but only succeeding in annoying the king.

"Do you think I don't realize this already?" barked the King in annoyance. The page immediately closed his mouth and excused himself respectfully as he turned to walk away. Quickly the King looked back up in a flash of realization. "Hold it there!" he interjected as his page immediately turned back around and bowed once more. "Suppose these cases are related." suggested the King with conviction. "If we can figure out where Mr. Monopoly is or what has happened to him, perhaps it can lead us to solve the mystery of Mr. Boddy's murder."

"A brilliant idea, your Majesty." spoke the page in praise. "Perhaps we should re-open the case and call the services of the Guess Who detective agency once more." He suggested excitedly. The King pondered a bit more and finally rejected the page's idea.

"Those fools couldn't solve the case the first time around, I'm not going to waste Candy Land dollars and resources on an entire agency without a clear direction first." He asserted. "Who among us is the most educated in forensics and conspiracy theories?" He asked.

The page thought to himself for a bit, filtering through people he new that might be of service in these matters, from suspects to possible witnesses to anyone who may have known both subjects, to people who know how to figure these puzzles out. One person in particular stood out in his mind as a suspect though he had been the first to be ruled out. "Mayor Plumpy may have an idea." he suggested. This annoyed the King even further.

"Mayor Plumpy has already provided us with all the information he can. The only thing he knows how to solve is how to grow the Kingdom's finest sugar-plums year after year, and all the interrogation in the world isn't going to make him spill that secret." King Kandy spat, letting out another exhausted sigh and sitting back further in his throne.

Suddenly the page stood up in exultation. "That's it!" He cried excitedly.

"What's it?" groaned the King in frustration.

"Plums." answered the page. "Professor Plum. He's a certified expert in the field as well as close associate of both subjects yet ruled out as a suspect in either case. Perhaps he can point us in the right direction." The King sat up instantly dropping his jaw in amazement.

"THAT'S IT!" He cried. "Professor Plum. I know that chap. Excellent specimen of a foreign citizen." he boasted. Quickly he snapped his fingers and signaled for another page to track down the Professor and request his services. "My dear countrymen, I do believe we are on the right track for another exciting chapter in the history of our great Kingdom." He sighed in contentment. "Let's hope what we find out isn't something far worse than we could have imagined."

"No worries, your Majesty." Assured the second page. "We defeated Lord Licorice, freed ourselves from the Risk Empire, and built this glorious Kingdom from pure sugar. We can withstand anything."

"Let us hope so, your majesty." whispered the other page.


End file.
